The LWP, who were they?

As with so much of Polish history, the more you learn, the more you realize that things are not always so simple.

Was the LWP some sort of giant Polish communist army allied to the Soviets? Yes...and no.
They were a vast mixture of many things, from staunch die-hard communists, to simple soldiers who could care less about communism but chose to fight rather than seeing themselves and often their families languish in Soviet prison or work camps.
As with the Polish forces in the West, they were excellent soldiers whose contributions and accomplishements are often overlooked and overshadowed by those of other nations. Any study into the final days of the war in Europe will focus on the fierce and bloody battles leading up to the culmination in the battle of Berlin. Few realize that the vast Soviet-led forces fighting that battle were 20% Polish!

The LWP post war, became the foundation upon which the new Polish army was formed. Outwardly loyal to the Soviets, they were still fiercly nationalistic and that fact was not lost on the Soviets. This can be seen especially in the 50's and 60's when both Czechoslovakia and Hungary were invaded when they launched reforms within their governmental structure. Poland escaped that fate as the Soviets knew that, although outwardly communist, the Polish People's Army was loyal to Poland first and foremost.

We chose this impression to display yet another facet of the massive contribution that Poland made to victory in WW2 as well as to clarify to the public as to who and what the Polish People's Army - Ludowe Wojsko Polske truly were.